Howard Lake-Waverly Herald, February 1, 1999

Wright County on edge over bomb threats

By John Holler

Vulnerability is a quality that nobody likes.

Whether it's a person afraid to walk the streets at night
or a worried parent concerned when a child is late coming home, the fear
that tragedy can strike is something that can always be a cause for fear
and concern.

But, when that vulnerability is shared by more than 100
people at the same time, it goes beyond fear and becomes something that
can be terrifying.

That was a feeling shared by many employees of Wright County
on Jan. 20-21 as a pair of threats forced two evacuations of the county
courthouse and had many fearing that a bomb had been planted in the courthouse;
showing many Wright County residents that working for the government can
make you a target.

"Government employees in general are in a glass bowl,"
said Sgt. Rick Doerr, who heads up the detectives unit of the Wright County
Sheriff's Department. "The situations we deal with every day - domestic
issues, financial issues, divorces - you end up with disgruntled people
that are disgusted with the system and take it out on the people who they
get bad news from."

Doerr headed up the investigation for Wright County in
a series of threats that is believed to have affected five different counties
- targeting their social/human services departments. While Anoka, Stearns
and Sherburne counties had received previous similar threats, the Jan. 20-21
threats were directed at Wright and Sherburne counties - beginning with
an ominous phone call received on the fourth floor of the Wright County
Human Services reception desk at 2 p.m. Jan. 20.

"No mention was made specifically of a bomb, but the
threat seemed to fit in with that," Doerr said. "There was a statement
made in which a gentleman said, 'We are tired of women beating up on men.
I have just talked with Anoka County and this is your warning. We have planted
a device in the county.' That was how the statement was made."

Because the threat didn't specify the courthouse as the
target, several buildings - ranging from the courthouse to the soon-to-be
opened Human Services Building to the Public Works Building to outlying
highway department shops to salt storage facilities - were evacuated and
searched. Nothing was found, but the dilemma was only beginning.

At approximately 11:45 a.m. Jan. 21, the human services
department's third floor reception area received a package that immediately
caused alarm and seemed to tie in to the threat made the previous day.

"The package was very suspicious," Doerr said.
"It contained a device that had tape and batteries and wires coming
out of it. We looked at it and called the bomb squad from (the) Bloomington
(Police Department)."

At the same time, a similar device was received at the
Sherburne County Human Services Department - sending several law enforcement
agencies into action. While it was quickly determined that the bomb was,
in fact, a harmless replica, thanks to X-rays taken by the Bloomington bomb
squad, the process of tracking the bomb down came quickly and led to an
arrest within 12 hours.

In the afternoon of Jan. 21, a private attorney from Elk
River received a call that expressed knowledge of the packages being sent
and, after he hit "Star 69" - which allows a call to be traced
to its site of origin - the number was found to have come from a pay phone
at a business in Elk River. When law enforcement officials followed up on
the call, the name of a local man was given to them - that of Richard Van
Patten of Elk River.

Shortly before 10 p.m. that night, Van Patten was pulled
over by Sherburne County authorities in his vehicle. A search warrant was
obtained and Van Patten's car was searched, providing what deputies believed
was corroborating evidence to the packages - which were traced to being
picked up by a delivery service from a hotel in St. Cloud that morning.

When questioned, Van Patten denied a link between the articles
found in his vehicle and the devices sent to the two counties.

"He did not confess," Doerr said. "When
he was initially questioned, he asked for an attorney. He has been involved
in interviews since then, but has not admitted to any involvement."

The discovery of such a threat came as a surprise to many
involved. Doerr said that, in more than 25 years in law enforcement, this
was the first time he had known of such a threat made in Wright County and
it is believed to be the first in the county's history.

But that didn't seem to shake the nervousness that spread
through the courthouse over those two days.

"We receive packages here all the time," Commissioner
Ken Jude said. "When something like this happens, it's natural for
people to be scared. When threats like this are made, lives can be on the
line and you have to take it seriously. People were afraid, but they reacted
well and we did the right thing to evacuate the buildings."

Van Patten was taken to St. Peter Jan. 25 for a psychiatric
evaluation at a mental health facility and no timetable was set for when
he could, or will, return to Sherburne or Wright County for trial on the
charges of terroristic threats that were brought against him. Due to sentencing
guideline policies, it is unlikely he would be put in state prison even
if convicted, instead he would be subject to county jail time because of
a lack of prior convictions on similar charges. He maintains his innocence.

As for Wright County officials, the scare has served as
a wake-up call to improve procedural measures in several county departments,
because, as the feeling was expressed in the days following the incidents,
the next time they may not be so lucky.

"I think with any type of crisis situation, there
is room for improvement in procedures," Chief Deputy Don Lindell said.
"I think this will give us an opportunity to critique how things went
and, in the event it ever happens again, we can have a heightened awareness
and avoid a potential tragedy in the future."